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  3. Bernard Leach, Dish, stoneware, slip trailing pelican motifs

Bernard Leach

Bernard Leach

Dish, stoneware, slip trailing pelican motifs

Period

1930

Size

Length43.6×Width43.6×Height9.4cm

Slipware is the type of British pottery popular between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which eventually declined over time. This example features the traditional motif of “a pelican in her piety,” that is, a pelican pecking its own body and giving the blood to nourish its young. After undertaking research into old pottery, Leach revived the use of patterns and techniques that had been forgotten or lost.